I had the honor of joining some of my fellow CampusGuardian’s attending the EDUCAUSE Security Professionals Conference here in my hometown of Chicago this past week, and I have a handful of takeaways that I would like to share with you all.
- The level of collaboration that I witnessed is precisely what we in higher education need, both now and in the future.
- The threats are becoming ever more sophisticated and increasing in frequency.
- Nation-state sponsored/affiliated actors are more active than ever in attempting to infiltrate our colleges and universities in search of the treasure trove of our research, financial, health data, as well as intellectual property and PII.
- There appears to be more discussion taking place about making security “business as usual”, which should elevate the decision making (and hopefully funding) to higher levels.
- There are no short or easy answers to the challenges that we face. Diligence, hard-work, shared intelligence and a continuous focus on security (both cyber and physical) are needed to combat the amazingly difficult, complicated and ever-evolving threat.
I was proud to take part in so many conversations with existing customers, new partners and presenters to gain their views on a range of topics. Holistically, I believe that the outcome of these three days will be a renewed sense of purpose and determination by everyone that I spoke with at the event. If you were in attendance, I hope that you feel the same way. As always, your CampusGuard team stands ready to support your endeavors in any way that you deem appropriate.
Thank you!
